| United States Patent | 5,783,793 |
| Emerton, et. al. | Jul. 21, 1998 |
| Inventors: | Emerton; Neil (Cambridge, GB); Gutsell; Graham S. (Cambs, GB); Large; Timothy A. (Cambs, GB); Owen; Stephen (Herts, GB). |
| Assignee: | Merck & Co., Inc. (Rahway, NJ). |
| Appl. No.: | 806,974 |
| Filed: | Feb. 26, 1997 |
| Intl. Cl. : | B23K 26/08 |
| Current U.S. Cl.: | 219/121.71; 219/121.74; 219/121.75; 219/121.77; 219/121.79; 219/121.86 |
| Field of Search: | 219/121.68, 121.69, 121.7, 121.71, 121.75, 121.74, 121.77, 121.78, 121.79, 121.82, 121.84 , 121.85, 121.86; 424/467, 473 |
| 4,088,864 | May, 1978 | Theeuwes et al. | 219/121.71 |
| 4,500,770 | Feb., 1985 | Vock et al. | 219/121.7 |
| 4,540,867 | Sept., 1985 | Ackerman | 219/121.77 |
| 5,049,721 | Sept., 1991 | Parnas et al. | 219/121.68 |
| 5,092,350 | Mar., 1992 | Arthur et al. | 131/281 |
| 5,294,770 | Mar., 1994 | Riddle et al. | 219/121.7 |
| 5,376,771 | Dec., 1994 | Roy | 219/121.71 |
| 5,658,474 | Aug., 1997 | Geerke | 219/121.71 |
Jain et al., J. Pharm. Sci., vol. 73 (1984), pp. 1806-1811, "Design of a Slow-Release Capsule Using Laser Drilling".
A laser drilling process capable of producing a plurality of holes in a pharmaceutical dosage form, at high speed, is presented. The process utilizes a high power CO(2) laser steered by an acousto-optic deflector together with various mirrors and optical components to achieve the correct beam path geometry, in order to produce an unlimited number of holes through the surface or coating of a dosage form, at rates up to 100,000 units or more per hour.